Migration

The Great Migration is an annual event that sees over 1½ million wildebeest, over ¼ million zebra and several hundred thousand species of game, including gazelle follow the rains in search of good grazing.

The migration circuit covers a range 800km North to South, starting and ending in the South Serengeti and going as far north as the Maasai Mara in Southern Kenya.

At the start in the Southern Serengeti, between January and March, the wildebeest have their young. Once May arrives and the rains finish, the animals start to head north. They arrive at the Grumeti and Mara Rivers at the beginning of July, reaching the Maasai Mara by late July.
Traditionally this is where they stay for the remainder of the dry season. With the start of the short rains in November , the migration heads south again completing the circuit by the beginning of December.

It is worth noting that approximately ¼ million wildebeest die each year as a direct result of the migration - from thirst, hunger, exhaustion and predation.